“Development and Application of Energy Flow Network Integration Technology Based on Efficient Recovery of Coking Waste Heat” Passed the Achievement Evaluation

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“\"Development and Application of Energy Flow Network Integration Technology Based on Efficient Recovery of Coking Waste Heat\" passed the evaluation of scientific and technological achievements. Author/Source: Collaborative Group for Advanced Processing and Hydrogenation of Coal Tar. Date: November 29, 2021. Clicks: 21. Recently, the technology \"Development and Application of Energy Flow Network Integration Technology Based on Efficient Recovery of Coking Waste Heat\", developed jointly by Jinan Metallurgical and Chemical Equipment Co., Ltd., Tsinghua University, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, and Tangsteel Meijin (Tangshan) Coal Chemical Co., Ltd., passed the evaluation of scientific and technological achievements organized by the Chinese Society for Metals in Beijing. The expert panel of the evaluation committee unanimously agreed that this technical achievement has reached an internationally advanced level. It is also recommended to summarize and improve this technology in order to accelerate its promotion and application. The expert group, headed by Yin Ruiyu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and comprising Yuan Qingtang, another academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, as well as Fei Weiyang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the main innovation of this technology lies in the development of a gas-solid-liquid multiphase high-efficiency rising tube heat exchanger that features good heat transfer performance, safety, and reliability; it uses thermal oil as a medium and inorganic high-thermal-conductivity materials as filling agents, thereby solving problems such as instability in the high-temperature (not less than 250 °C) heat streams generated upstream in the energy flow process, as well as coking issues ； Secondly, technologies for recovering waste heat from heat transfer oil and utilizing it in downstream applications such as negative-pressure benzene removal, ammonia vaporization, and ammonium sulfate production were developed and systematically integrated. These technologies completely replaced the traditional energy sources such as steam and gas, thereby achieving a closed-loop and self-circulating system for energy utilization in coking processes ； Third, a closed-loop, low-carbon, and orderly energy flow network for the efficient recovery and utilization of waste heat from coking was developed and established. A dynamic heat transfer mechanism model was created, enabling the orderly and stable operation of the energy flow network and significantly enhancing the automation and intelligence of the energy flow system. As environmental requirements for the coking industry become stricter, gas-fired furnaces are required to treat the exhaust gases through desulfurization, denitrification, and dust removal processes; this leads to a significant increase in energy consumption. There is therefore a great need to develop methods for recovering the waste heat from the rising pipes and using it in chemical production processes such as benzene removal, ammonia distillation, and ammonium sulfate production. After more than 5 years of research, experimentation, and industrial application, the project team has successfully overcome the challenges that hinder the green development of the coking industry. They have obtained 5 authorized patents (including 1 invention patent) and 4 software copyrights. Tang Zhigang, an associate professor at Tsinghua University, explained that in response to issues such as insufficient utilization of waste heat in the existing coking industry, the coexistence of multiple energy sources, low energy efficiency during operation, and poor cleanliness, this project developed independently a waste heat recovery technology for coke oven rising pipes that uses thermal oil as the sole heat transfer medium. The system integrates this recovered waste heat for processes such as ammonia distillation, benzene removal, and ammonium sulfate production, thereby creating a clean, low-carbon, and safe self-circulating energy flow network based on efficient waste heat recovery from coke oven rising pipes. This technology has been put into industrial use in the 7-m coke oven facility at Tangsteel Meijin Coal Chemical Company, which produces 2.9 million tons of coke per year. The waste heat recovery system using thermal oil for the waste gas from coke oven rising pipes operates stably, features good technical safety, high reliability, and strong practicality; it effectively solves the problem of efficient waste heat recovery from such waste gas in the coking industry, thus creating conditions for making use of waste heat in chemical production processes.